Journey Zephier

Age: 19, Hometown: Kapaa, Kaua'i, Hawai'i

"I am suing the Federal Government because it's the right thing to do. Our future survival depends on our leaders taking dramatic action on climate change NOW, for the sake of future generations and all life on Earth."

Mani Wanji "Journey" was born in South Dakota and is an enrolled member of the Yankton Sioux Nation. In 2009, he and his family moved to the small town of Kapaa on the Hawaiian island of Kaua'i. Journey now attends a Hawaiian cultural immersion school, and is in deep practice of Hawaiian language and culture. With climate change, his town will be mostly underwater by the end of the century, and he is already seeing many impacts on his island in the form of shrinking beaches, dying coral reefs, and drought on an island "which used to be one of the wettest places on earth," he says. Journey is a youth leader on the Earth Guardians Rising Youth for a Sustainable Earth (“RYSE”) Youth Council and a National Earth Ambassador for UNITY - United National Indigenous Tribal Youth. He was a youth ambassador for the Center for Native American Youth from 2016-2017.

Journey with #youthvgov lawyer Phil Gregory on the steps of the U.S. Supreme Court, April 27, 2017. Photo: Robin Loznak